1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for the replacement of a removable heel, provided with pulling engagement devices, in a shoe with removable heel.
The invention finds specific, however not exclusive application, in the shoe manufacturing industry and shoe accessory industry.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Specifically developed shoes for foot care have been known and used for a long time as protection devices during movements and walking From their conception, said devices evolved into many different styles, both in terms of structural implementations and in terms of design. In brief, the basic structure of a shoe, necessarily consists of at least one lower part, namely a sole meant for ground contact, and at least a top part, anchored to the sole, conventionally called an upper, produced to bind up the foot and guarantee that the shoe remains associated with the foot when walking and preventing the foot from contacting the ground. Especially in women shoes, the sole portion coinciding with the heel is provided with a shim portion, conventionally called a heel, of variable height according to the shoe style it is produced for. Some women shoe styles make it possible to remove and replace the heel with one of different height or shape.
State of the Art
The current technical scenario offers many removable-heel shoes. The removable-heel shoes cited in the patent literature include, with merely illustrative and non-comprehensive purpose, the following:
D1: n. WO9605394 (Goldenberg)
D2: n. WO2008/125705 (Gòmez)
D3: n. IT1160651 (Waldemar)
D4: n. U.S. Pat. No. 1,986,727 (Hall)
D5 n. TV2009U000041 (Terrida) (Oct. 26, 2009)
D1 describes a shoe with an interchangeable heel including a pin protruding from the head portion of a sole provided with a housing to accommodate a screw, which is to screw a nut drowned in an appropriate housing at a prearranged head element. Furthermore, an interchangeable heel is provided with an appropriate capsule-type anchoring device, which can be inserted in a suitable seat provided in the heel. Said anchoring capsule includes an expansion device through which the anchorage of the heel to the shoe sole is performed.
D2 describes a shoe with removable heel briefly characterized in that it can be divided in two associable parts, one of which comprising the heel, which is associated to the shoe through a track arranged for anchoring the heel to the heel-holding sole of the upper part of the shoe. Said heel is provided with two L-shaped sheets, both connected to a ring-shaped element, being said sheets located at the upper part of the heel. The upper part of the shoe meant to engage the heel is provided with two grooves suitable for engaging said L-shaped sheets at the heel.
D3 describes a heel application system in shoes with interchangeable heel, characterized in that the first part of the sole, shows in its back part a rigid supporting plate fixed thereon and, both the first part of the sole and the plate are cut at each other's front, the cut on the plate being however of smaller dimension than the one on the sole and one of said cuts showing at least a straight plane, and the heel being provided at its upper part with a protrusion, the heel and the first part of the sole being joined by means of connection means that can be detached or screwed.
D4 describes a removable heel solution for shoes comprising a flat engagement body anchored to the shoe, said flat body being externally provided with a circular guiding plate provided with a number of radially arranged anchoring flaps, next to the base of said flat body. Furthermore, a separated heel is provided with a similar engagement device at said flat body, which is provided to be anchored to said heel being it equally provided with corresponding radial engagement openings, being the edge of the heel flat body thinner in correspondence with said openings in order to allow the reciprocal engagement of the seats and anchorage flaps at said flat bodies, for associating the heel to the shoe.
D5 briefly describes a shoe with removable heel provided with a device for the replacement of the removable heel comprising, associated to the shoe heel-holding sole, a first engagement plate provided with at least three bayonet hooking seats each provided with guide slot and provided with a groove for engaging the head of an engagement pin as well as at least a first engagement wall and a second engagement wall with a guide slot between them, being the first engagement plate provided with appropriate seats for its fixing to the shoe heel-holding sole, being a second engagement plate connected to the upper part of the removable heel and provided with engagement pins provided with head being the second engagement plate further provided with suitable through holes for its connection of the second engagement plate to the removable heel.
Drawbacks
The known background art underlines that all the described solutions determine drawbacks and constraints to a certain extent.
A first limitation involving all the currently known removable heel footwear solutions and their corresponding heel replacement devices, in the opinion of the applicant, consists in the detected circumstance that the engagement devices arranged to allow the association and removal of the heel are not optimized in terms of engagement stability, especially following the protracted use of the shoe. In particular, the currently known removable heel footwear solutions have been found not to be provided with specific devices able to ensure an optimal anchorage of the removable heel to the heel-holding sole, being it a stable anchorage at the same time allowing an easy removal of the heel.
A second limitation further involving all the currently known and shown removable heel solutions and the corresponding heel replacement devices, in the opinion of the applicant, consists in the detected circumstance that the solutions are not optimized in terms of heel association and removal at the shoe, such a circumstance having been found to limit the use of such footwear particularly if shoes are worn by users with no particular manual skills.
A further disadvantage involving the currently known footwear removable heel solutions and their corresponding heel replacement devices, in the opinion of the applicant, emerges in the detected circumstance that the solutions of the known art, not providing specific engagement devices able to correct and limit possible anchorage defects of the heel to the heel-holding sole, do not ensure an optimal connection stability able to be wearproof in the course of time and free from the need of successive replacement and maintenance operations.
Therefore, the footwear industry companies need to identify the optimal solutions to obtain the successive prearranged aims.